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Altomines
Altomines are the bronzed “gods” of the sky. They have historically been the subject of an embellished image, both in Vencaeli and Imas. They are the golden race of Orian and altomine myth, chosen by Oria to spend their lives with him. However, as we have recently discovered, altomines are no longer so close to Oria. In the modern era, they are just as human as anyone else. Basic Attributes · Average Height – Men: 5’11”, Women: 5’6” · Senses – Good eyesight and hearing · Appearance – Olive-skinned or tan, occasionally fair, with large variation in hair and eye color (red, orange, blonde, brown, and sometimes back) o Eye color ranges from dark blue to green to purple · Energy type – Gold. Cannot wield green or brown. · Home – Vencaeli, the eastern sky continent · Racial Stat Adjustments – Dex +1, Agi +1, Con -1 Home and Culture Despite only coming into contact with Imas 30 years ago, altomine society is beginning to be well understood by lowland anthropologists. In recent years, some altomines have been very open with their culture, as they seem to enjoy talking about themselves. Moreover, Vencaeli has its history well documented for the past 2,000 years, and though it requires much sifting through repetitive genealogies, most of the important information seems to have been retained. 2,000 years ago, as the myths go, the altomines were Oria’s chosen race that he lifted towards the heavens. Since then, the altomine race and culture seems to have changed a fair bit, but they have never forgotten their places as the “chosen race”. This leads to a cultural pride that borders on arrogance, and can also lead to xenophobia. Altomine society has strong themes of ancestry, bureaucracy, and hierarchy. The best term for the government would probably be oligarchy: a small percentage of the population makes all of the decisions. The Altomines are the second-most (possibly third-most, as zemy censuses are not released) populous race. They are quite powerful, and have many talented air mages. However, their cultural stagnation of the past two thousand years have put them technologically behind eormen despite a head start. Ancestry is an important aspect of altomine culture. Ancestors are worshipped, and family trees are very detailed. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that as Oria’s chosen race, the altomines have always looked towards their origins as pure. This search for purity causes a constant reflection on their descent. The other reason for such close tabs of heritage is because the Guardian of the altomines, Aurtos, has continuously procreated with the people for 2,000 years. Naturally, having eagle-blood is highly sought after. Aristocracy doesn’t exist in the same form as one would find among the eormen, as the most powerful figures are not landowners per se, but government officials. Holding land is of course good, but the means towards land is government employment. Gaining a high-ranking job in the bureaucracy is based on both lineage and performance. Performance has a little to do with understanding of economics and government, and a lot to do with knowledge of the history of the altomine race, according to the historical canon. It should be noted that this historical canon is not necessarily completely correct. This is particularly true with the altomine version of history dating from the time of the Sundering and the Ancient Era, which is wildly divergent from the stories told by eormen as well as what can be discerned from the archaeological record. Hierarchy is based mostly on lineage and partially on government position. While there are many details and intricacies to Altomine hierarchy, it can perhaps be boiled down to three levels: Patricians, Plebeians, and Servi. ' Patricians' are the highest rank. Its people are of pure blood, are often descendants of Aurtos, and are found in high-ranking bureaucratic positions. They make up less than 5% of the population, but have the most control and about 90% of the country’s land and wealth. In Cephec Merca, the capital, Patricians live within the walled in city center. Many rarely leave. ' Plebeians' make up the vast majority of the population. While considered to be true altomines and occasionally landowners, plebeians have limited freedom. They do not receive the education that patricians do, and while it is legally mandated that plebeians have the option to test into the wind academies that cultivate leaders, few manage to pass and even fewer manage to enter the patrician’s circle. In fact, only one plebeian from the past hundred years has been known to enter a wind academy, and he shamefully dropped out within two years. The only way that plebeians have been recorded to make themselves true patricians is by becoming extremely successful and marrying a patrician. However, even this tends to result in offspring that are considered plebeian; it would take another generation with yet another patrician before they are deemed worthy. Plebeians make up 75% of the population and hold 9% of the land and wealth. They usually are either tenant farmers or, more often, skilled urban laborers. A fair number are merchants, but generally they must answer to a patrician. Plebeian families are rarely successful over multiple generations. If they become too successful, inevitably it seems an important figure is convicted of a crime and their property is revoked. On the other hand, those that manage to retain their property will probably eventually enter patricianship, though this is a difficult and multi-generation process. Servi are the lowest class of people in Vencaeli. They are generally descendants of criminals, debtors, and those thought to be of impure blood (descendants of another race). In Vencaeli society, servi lack the right to property or citizenship, and generally are relegated to whatever they have in their pockets and on their back. Some have been known to achieve more, but doing so is very difficult. Even plebeians have long lists of documentation showing their relatively unstained genealogical record. Many servi lack this, as their ancestors’ genealogies were revoked either as a punishment or because they were unworthy. As a result, servi are unable to participate in any bureaucratic business and are unprotected by the law. Servi make up about 20% of the population and hold 1% of the wealth. Most are either basically or literally slaves, though the patricians refuse to use their unclean services. A fair number also live on the outskirts of Vencaeli society, living off the land far enough away from civilization that they have a lower chance of being kicked off the land or worse. Altomine culture has held up pretty well for 2,000 years, but during that time the high Vencaeli government and senate has continued to slowly degenerate. At the time of the skyfall, unrest was growing among plebeians, some of whom had managed to grow quite powerful. Meanwhile, decadence of the upper class continued to grow. Much of the government degeneration seems to be caused by the trend of electing not those who are most capable of ruling but those of noble blood. Originally, it seems the altomine bureaucracy was designed to be an effective an efficient method of administration. However, it has grown to be a shell of its former self, and seems to exist only for the sake of existence. The elite of Vencaeli are elite by both blood and position, but their elite privileges are used mostly for pleasure. Altomines seek office not to maintain their country or even govern its people. They do it because that’s the way it has been done for thousands of years. The altomines are known for having a very powerful police force. They have never needed a standing army, as they have no enemies in the sky. However, their police are essentially a standing army, and part of the reason they have never had an enemy is because any enemy opinion was quickly quashed. The altomine police is made mostly of middle to high ranking men. Many of the leaders are graduates from wind schools. The police rank and file is one of the few places where there is still a degree of vertical social movement, though even here it is very difficult. That said, the police are also directly responsible for preventing any lower class citizens from attempting to climb higher. In the past few hundred years, two regions of Vencaeli have begun developing more distinct, independent cultures: the eastern forest of Canen Sylva and the western Emersa Mountains. The geographic isolation prevented the altomine police from preventing this, though no massive insurrection occurred for a long while. About 50 years ago, the Vencaeli senate launched a duel assault on the mountains and the forest. The war on the western front was over very fast. The altomines there, while increasingly independent, were peaceful and not particularly trained in the art of war. Today, the mountains are once again under total Vencaeline control. The altomines of the forest, however, had been preparing. The forest has its fair share of dangers, and as such there was reason enough to have trained warriors. However, as the altomine senate continued to attempt to reign over the woods, the forest altomines, now known as the Aether, began to train in secret. Their furtive training led to a very secretive style of fighting, that developed for 200 hundred years without the altomine government knowing. Their warriors came to be known as the Aether’s Fist. When the Altomine police force attacked, they were in no way prepared for the battles that came. The police were trained for open fighting, but the forest men used guerilla tactics and surprise attacks. The police tried for ten years to secure the forest, but at every turn they were met by the elusive opposition. Near the end, the forest altomines began to take the offensive. Rather than attack the police, the forest men struck at sources of power. Their trained assassins took out several senators and high-ranking officials before the senate finally called back the bulk of their police force to protect the capital. There, they planned a further assault, this time without any mercy. However, these plans were halted when Vencaeli began to fall. Oria’s magic is known to be the reason for the sky continents’ positions. There is a barrier that prevents anything magical from crossing the line. This includes sky continents and living people, though there have been artifacts and occasionally even the dead who have fallen to the earth in a rather mangled form. About 30 years ago, the barrier between Vencaeli and the lower land had all but disappeared. No one knows how long it was weakening, though the breaking point coincided with the theft of one of Aurtos’s swords, Sol. This theft is widely blamed on the Aether. The Aether doesn’t deny this credit, but the sword still hasn’t been sighted in thirty years. Some have begun to speculate that they don’t have it after all. At this point, Vencaeli began to fall rapidly. A combined effort between altomine air benders and the Church of Oria’s light magic priests managed to slow the continent’s descent and partially restore the barrier just before it crashed into the earth like a continent-sized meteor, thus killing most life. Now Vencaeli sits about five hundred meters above the umbra, when it once was much many kilometers. The Orian Church takes credit for preventing the cataclysm. Likewise, the altomine believe that the Orian priests did absolutely nothing but chant. In fact, neither side is particularly sure if their efforts were successful or some other force prevented a cataclysm. The continent on which Oria continues to reside, Orlen, remains far above the planet. Only Vencaeli fell. However, Orlen and Vencaeli have been separated already for nearly 2,000 years. It’s hardly surprising that altomine civilization has been in turmoil the past 30 years. Their sudden return to the mainland is taking a long time to adjust to. While some altomine men and women have left their continent, most remain and are very slowly adjusting. Many, including much of the bureaucracy up until only a few years ago, are in denial. Meanwhile, inhabitants of Imas have a difficult time reaching Vencaeli (half a kilometer is far when no one can control air). However, over the past two decades many eormen and others have doubled their work on flying machines. It’s only a matter of time before eormen will be able to reach the continent uninvited. And when they do, well, there is quite a bit of fertile land to enjoy. Traditionally, Ctenubem has had a very significant role for the people of Vencaeli. Since the continent sits above most butts, it requires another source of rain. That source is Ctenubem, the living butt, who regularly crosses the continent, leaving rain in his wake. Because of this system, Vencaeli has always had a very regular weather schedule unlike the world below. Now that Vencaeli lies beneath much of my butt line, it has random weather just like anywhere else. This is yet another thing that the people have been forced to adjust to. Ctenubem is not the capital of Vencaeli like so many of the other deities are. The living space possible on him is not particularly large, considering he is mostly a butt. Rather, the headquarters of air wizards is on his bell. During the war between the eastern forests and the altomine senate, the senate requested for Ctenubem to stop releasing water onto the forest. However, Ctenubem did not comply, as it does not choose sides among its own people. It acts only as an arbiter of the wind and the wind’s children. Family' The Altomine family is of incredible, partially religious importance. Parents elicit great respect, and grandparents even more. Altomines, especially higher ranking ones, keep close tabs of their lineage and pray to their notable ancestors. Lesser ranking altomines also must, for legal reasons, pay much attention to their lineage. They too practice ancestor worship, but there is less imperative to keep the bloodline clean. As long as a plebeian avoids marriage with a serv (technically it is impossible to marry a serv anyway since they aren’t citizens), then they are probably fine. Altomine put large emphasis on physical appearance as a representation of bloodline. Certain characteristics are sought after: gold or bronze hair, gold, purple, or red eyes, and a tall stature. In the absence of a visibly strong genealogy, some Altomines can use their physical appearance to achieve high rank. If a person has eagle-blood only very distantly but looks similar to Aurtos, that is usually good enough. Altomine selective breeding for blood has caused a fair deal of inbreeding, particularly among patricians but also among plebeians. This is done to keep altomines similar to their original incarnation, as evidenced by Aurtos. However, no records show what altomines originally looked like, and it seems just as plausible that Aurtos looks different from the average ancient altomine. This is certainly the case for Vyagarosh, whose obsidian skin is an outlier among orcs, or for Wynblaid, whose silver hair is almost an exaggeration of elves. That said, this could be what the Altomines want anyway: to represent the exaggerated best of what they once were. Among my colleagues, however, there is some debate as to the implications of such inbreeding among patricians. Could this too have contributed to the gradual decline of Vencaeli? Altomine marriage is usually arranged and rarely based on concepts of love. While the soon-to-be-husband and wife tend to have some say in the matter, most of the time their opinions are of secondary importance to their parents’. The goal in these marriages is to preserve or strengthen one’s blood. Other factors can come into play, such as money, attractiveness, and occasionally love, but in general the primary concern is bettering one’s genealogy. Perhaps out of any race, altomines give women the most limited role. Women of Vencaeli tend to be rulers of only the domestic sphere, watching children and keeping households running. This is especially true among patricians, where a woman’s main role is to oversee the lavish parties often held. Women in lower classes typically play a bigger part. In fact, the lower one goes, the more women do. However, it is almost always looked down upon in a sense, as a good husband should be capable of providing without the wife taking such responsibilities on herself. Vencaeli law places women as second-class citizens. They have limited property rights and more stringent rules for acquisition of political positions. Women still retain the ability to divorce, though this is rare, and requires the say of her family as well. In reality, much of the limitations placed on women are cultural rather than legal. Women play into this just as much as men, as they prefer their cult of domesticity. There is a theory circulating that the relative weakness of women in Vencaeli is a result of abundance of resources. Since Vencaeli is a fertile land that very well provides for the population, life is less difficult there. As such, less work is required of a family, and often a single strong individual can feed several mouthes. Culture dictated that women should be let off with less work, and as a result it has morphed to the present day, where even when a woman’s work is needed, it is frowned upon. Of course, women in Vencaeli are probably inherently of comparable intelligence and magic ability to men. This is difficult to test in Altomine society however, as wind schools only take male students. The Aether The Aether is a subset of altomines that is officially unrecognized but nonetheless important. They are the forest-dwelling separatists who began diverging a few hundred years ago and were recognized about fifty years ago by Vencaeli as a threat to national unity. The Aether’s roots can be found in Vencaeli’s hierarchy. Whilst the patricians and most plebeians lived happily, many servi did not. In particular, a large number of free but subjugated servi were in need of a place to go. Over hundreds of years, these outliers of altomine society relocated in unremarkable exoduses to the various edges of Vencaeli in the north, west, and east. As servi, they had no rights to where they settled, but few patricians or plebeians were interested in the less livable lands the servi squatters made their homes. Some of these servi areas began to develop distinct communities and separate cultures. The three most prominent were those in the Emersa Mountains (the Emersans), those of Alba Sylva (Albans), and those of Canen Sylva (Canens). Gradually, the Albans began to migrate to Canen Sylva, which was more habitable (though some hardy servi still inhabit Alba Sylva). This combined group of forest dwellers gradually become known as the Aether, referencing a new, more arcane connection they had developed to air, as well as the misty nature of their home. The servi of the woods never received proper wind mage training. However, manipulation of wind energy is innate in altomines, and so it was only a matter of time before they had developed their own style. This style is still rough around the edges and far less perfected than the style of the Vencaeli wind mages, but has its own benefits. For one, there is much more room for experimentation and personalization. After thousands of years, the wind mage style is rather set in stone, and those who attempt to do things differently fair poorly. The Aether, by necessity, allows adaptation and the trying of new things. The other benefit is that the Aether makes use of water energy as well. Altomine society tends to frown upon the use of anything but wind energy, and so even though altomines have some capabilities with fire and water, they are rarely used. The Aether’s furtive and mist-like style takes much from watershaping, and utilizes water energy among those capable. Gradually, more free or escaped servi and even some discontent plebeians moved to Canen Sylva. It is difficult to discern how many now live in and around the forest as Aethereans, due to their reclusive nature, but they are thought to now make up about 5 to 15% of the population of Vencaeli. In order to inhabit the grey forest, which inherits from its ancestry in Codenwellt a penchant for dangerous beasts, Aethereans developed a militia like force that can defend settlements. The militia gradually evolved through repeated skirmishes with surrounding Vencaeli controlled regions into a fighting force known as the Aether’s Fist. The Aether’s Fist’s growing power is what prompted Vencaeli to finally declare war on the servi communities fifty years ago. From a modern viewpoint, it seems the Aether managed to win the first Civil War, as they remain autonomous. However, skirmishes continue despite an official truce, and it is thought that both sides are preparing for another war. This time, it is believed that Vencaeli has the upper hand, as they have recently become trading partners and allies with Deorlen. Their main import has been weapons technology, which, while purposefully limited by the cautious Deorlenians, may nonetheless turn the tides of war. Meanwhile, the Aether continues to rely on secretive methods. Thus, it is possible they too have a secret weapon. It is known that they have some agents disrupting Vencaeli-Deorlen trade, and currently Deorlen is formally against them. However, Deorlen is far from a cohesive unit, and many believe that merchants have been trading with the Aether under the table as well. The Aether has also opened up trade with elves. While the two aren’t formally allies, their shared forest home helps the elves see the Aether as a sort of brethren. 4th edition note: Since the writing of this book, war has indeed begun in Canen Sylva. However, the battle is much more even than was previously predicted. The fall of Emporia City has left Vencaeli with a paucity of the weapons that were supposed to win them the war. Meanwhile, elvish aid has allowed the Aether to hold it’s own for two years of war already. However, as Vencaeli grows more desperate, its strategies become bolder and crueler. Orcish and vliskaran mercenaries have now been sighted around Canen Sylva, brought by the Vencaeli government to literally smoke the Aether out. The Aether also has had more interbreeding with other races than the rest of Vencaeli. This may be partially due to their heritage. In fact, servi in general are a bit darker haired and darker skinned, reflecting the small number of eormen and orcs who were trapped on Vencaeli after the Sundering. A half-eormen half-serv could pass as a slightly strange eormen. Some lowlanders have been taken up to the forest, and some Aethereans have visited Imas and procreated. Religion Altomine religion has two prominent aspects. The first is their connection to their ancestors. The second is their pantheon of powerful gods with very human-like desires and flaws. These two aspects are quite interconnected though, as the altomine gods mostly consist of apotheosized ancestors. Altomines believe that the dead descend to Imas, the underworld (literally the world below). Before the Sundering, it is unknown what altomines believed happened to the dead. However, when Oria lifted Vencaeli into the sky, altomine religion explains that Oria left the world below as the realm of the dead. There, the other races remain as shadows and ghosts, since Oria also destroyed their lives in the Sundering. Imas was thought to consist of a series of layers, with the highest layers reserved for the great and pure of blood and truly beautiful. The lowest layers were grey and grim, and left for sinners and the impure. Judgment was performed by the god Umbris. Dead altomines were said to go to the earth as shadows also. The greatest altomines, however, due to their connection with the energy of air, were able to return to the sky. These powerful spirits are the gods of the altomine pantheon. No other race has the capacity to ascend, and so they are lesser. The altomine gods generally still reside in the underworld as its rulers. However, they are also said to return to the sky often, though most prefer to remain hidden from the people. Oria is said to be the first altomine and the first to ascend. He also created the world. Ctenubem is the second altomine, and the one who convinced Oria to create and lift his chosen race to the sky with him. Recently, much of altomine religion was seriously shaken up. This occurred when Vencaeli fell, and the altomines was discovered that Imas was filled with the living and not ruled by altomine gods. A few altomines converted to Oriism in response. However, most simply concluded that the underworld was not literal, as they had misinterpreted. Instead, it was a metaphysical underworld of the dead, or perhaps one far beneath the surface of the planet. The realization that the other races were not just shadows has not yet proven its full effects yet. For now, it seems the altomines retain much of their haughty nature. The altomine pantheon is constantly fluctuating, but generally holds between fifty and one thousand gods in it. Much of it depends on whom you ask or how you define god. Godhood is a useful political ploy for altomines. If one of your ancestors is apotheosized, it means great things for you. Meanwhile, if you find your ancestor gods to suddenly lose their godhood, your social status drops significantly. Many of the changes occur indirectly. One of the most important aspects of altomine gods is their entertainment value. Altomines are lovers of the arts, especially the dramatic play. Priests act as bards, transcribing historical or current events of the gods. Like men of the living world, gods too are constantly struggling for power and winning and losing battles. Altomines watch these plays for entertainment and to see whom next may find power. Priests (usually high ranking air mages) that communicate with the gods also seem to have some influence over the power struggles of the gods, or so it goes. As a result, accruing favor with these priests is a fantastic way to suddenly have more powerful ancestors. Another form of drama is sporting events, in particular gladiatorial games. Gladiators are said to be representatives of specific ancestor-gods. The victor’s god clearly was more helpful and effective, and so that god becomes held in higher esteem. Almost all altomines worship their gods, though most worship different ones. Patricians tend to focus on their specific ancestor-gods. Plebeians can usually find some distant relations to worship, but also tend to worship gods who have spheres of power that are of use to the plebeian. Servi tend to worship deities exclusively as gods and not ancestors, and their worship is a bit more shamanistic. All god-ancestors have specific spheres of power. Most of these are based on the ancestor’s skills or interests. That said, spheres of power can also be won. For instance, Sidonia Althes is a goddess apotheosized for saving Vencaeli from disease 1,800 years ago. Her sphere is the cure of diseases. However, she also has since then defeated the old god of stone-working, and so now is also a patron of masonry. Gods can end up with absolutely no sphere of power, which renders them quite weak. However, they also are also immortal, so there are many tales of weakened gods returning with a vengeance to take others’ spheres. There is also the possibility of creating new spheres. Altomines believe that ancestor-gods gain power from their prayers. This is why the gods are willing to help their followers. Religion is a give and take in Vencaeli, with worshippers aiding their gods, and being aided in return. This also explains how powerful priests are said to aid in the victory of a specific god. A priests prayers are apparently good fuel for a god. A special mention should be given to the god Umbris. In altomine myth, Umbris is one of the oldest ancestor-gods, possibly as old as Aurtos. Umbris is the god of night, a powerful ruler of the underworld, and the judge of souls. Like most altomine gods, he has many flaws. However, he is not evil, and sometimes is a hero. This Umbris is rather different from the Umbris of Orian myth. In current altomine myth, Umbris is an ancestor from around the time of the Sundering. However, ancient Alto/Orian myth places him as much older. The concept of him would have to be, since Oriism Umbris is based on ancient texts. Category:Races